Every organisation
runs on two systems.
Coaching for senior women leaders navigating workplace politics, difficult 360 feedback, and complex organisational dynamics.
One is on the organisation chart. The other is where decisions actually get made, where influence moves, and where careers accelerate or stall.
When the situation turns political, performance alone doesn't explain what's happening. Most professionals spend their entire careers seeing only one of these.
Political literacy is the ability to see both, and act with clarity.
This is for you if
- Your 360 feedback doesn't reflect your actual performance
- You sense shifting alliances or silent resistance
- Decisions are being made around you, not with you
- You are being evaluated in ways you cannot fully see
What This Is About
Understanding the system that no one teaches you
Power in organisations does not announce itself. It does not appear on slides or in job descriptions. It lives in relationships, in timing, in the unwritten rules about who gets heard, who gets credit, and who gets left out of the room where it matters.
Understanding how that system works is not about becoming political. It is about becoming fluent. Seeing clearly what is actually happening around you, and making deliberate choices about how you engage with it.
That is what political literacy means. The Two Systems Model names the framework: every organisation runs on an official system (what is on the org chart) and a real one (where decisions actually get made). And navigating that gap is a learnable skill.
Who This Is For
Senior leaders who are technically excellent and politically underprepared
Professionals who keep getting blindsided by decisions that seem to come from nowhere. Women navigating organisations that were not built with them in mind. Leaders moving between cultural contexts where the unwritten rules have changed entirely.
And anyone who has ever done everything right and still found themselves on the wrong side of a decision they never saw coming.
"I strengthened my executive presence, developed clearer decision-making frameworks under pressure, and gained tools to navigate complex organisational dynamics. The progress I have experienced has resulted in measurable improvements in performance, leadership effectiveness, and team outcomes."
Aishwarya T. · Senior Leader
What You Will Find Here
Three ways to get better at this
The Political Literacy Hub
Frameworks, research, and long-form thinking
How power actually moves through organisations. Free, substantive, and built to give you tools you can use.
Explore the hub →Work With Shirisha
Work through your specific situation directly
From a single session to a sustained three-month engagement, the work is precise, analytical, and focused on the system you are actually navigating.
View all engagements →Fluent: Newsletter
Becoming politically literate at work
Published on Substack. The felt experience of navigating the things the frameworks describe.
Read Fluent →Shirisha Nagendran is an Executive Coach and the leading voice on political literacy in the workplace.
She spent the first five years of her career being technically excellent and politically naive. The cost of that gap was real, and it was prohibitive. Understanding how organisations actually work, not how they are supposed to work, changed everything.
She brings 22 years of experience across corporate leadership and executive coaching, working with senior leaders navigating complex organisational landscapes across the UK, the US, and internationally. She holds an ICF PCC certification and has more than 1,500 hours of client coaching.
Her work sits at the intersection of organisational behaviour research, gender and leadership, and the political complexity faced by leaders navigating global organisations across cultures and geographies.
Comprehensive Power Literacy Guides
The guides. Start here.
Long-form, research-backed thinking on how power and influence actually move through organisations. Free, substantive, and built to give you tools you can use.
Organisation Politics 101
A field manual for seeing the political game, understanding the players, and choosing how you want to engage with it.
You spoke up. It was authentic. So where did it go wrong?
Why speaking your mind backfires, and practical tools for speaking in ways that actually land.
Is the 360 Feedback Process Being Used Against You?
How to read whether a feedback process is being used developmentally or politically, and what to do about it.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask about political literacy
What is political literacy at work?
Political literacy at work is the ability to see how power and influence actually move through an organisation, and to make deliberate, intentional choices about how you engage with that system. Every organisation runs on two systems simultaneously: the official system (org chart, stated decision-making processes) and the real system (where decisions actually get made, whose relationships matter, what the unwritten rules are). Political literacy is the capacity to see both systems clearly and navigate them without compromising your values.
Who is Shirisha Nagendran?
Shirisha Nagendran is an ICF PCC certified Executive Coach and the leading voice on political literacy at work. Based in Bengaluru, she works globally with senior professionals from Fortune 500 and FTSE-listed companies. She holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and has more than 1,500 hours of client coaching experience. She previously held senior leadership roles at Deutsche Bank and HSBC across two continents.
Who is political literacy coaching for?
Political literacy coaching is for technically excellent senior leaders and mid-career professionals who are finding that performance alone is not producing the outcomes they expect. This includes women navigating organisations where the unwritten rules were written by and for someone else, leaders moving between India and global headquarters navigating two political cultures simultaneously, and anyone who has done everything right and still found themselves on the wrong side of a decision they never saw coming.
What is the difference between the Political Intelligence work and executive coaching?
The Political Intelligence offerings (Audit, Session, Retainer) are analytical and strategic: Shirisha reads your political landscape and tells you what she sees. They focus on the external system around you. Executive coaching focuses on your internal experience: your clarity, direction, and growth. The two are complementary but distinct. Many clients use the Political Intelligence Audit as an entry point and move into coaching when they are ready to work on how they respond to what they are seeing.